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RETScreen Suite software issues update

06-08-2013, Varennes, Quebec, Canada

An updated version of the RETScreen Software Suite was released on August 6, 2013. RETScreen is the world’s leading clean energy decision-making software, provided completely free-of-charge by the Government of Canada. It is a proven enabler of clean energy projects worldwide, and REEEP has supported many modifications and improvements to the software.

RETScreen Plus is a Windows-based energy management software tool that allows project owners to easily verify the ongoing energy performance of their facilities.

RETScreen Suite was developed in collaboration with the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) and the NASA Langley Research Center. There are now more than 380,000 RETScreen users in 222 countries, where the software has been directly responsible for over $8 billion in user savings to-date.

The software significantly reduces the costs (both financial and time) associated with identifying and assessing potential energy projects. These costs, which arise at the pre-feasibility, feasibility, development, and engineering stages, can be substantial barriers to the deployment of Renewable-energy and Energy-efficient Technologies (RETs). By helping to break down these barriers, RETScreen reduces the cost of getting projects on the ground and doing business in clean energy.

RETScreen allows decision-makers and professionals to determine whether or not a proposed renewable energy, energy efficiency, or cogeneration project makes financial sense. If a project is viable—or if it is not—RETScreen will help the decision-maker understand this: quickly, unequivocally, in a user-friendly format, and at relatively minimal cost.

The software has been directly responsible for over $8 billion in user savings globally. By virtue of enabling clean energy, RETScreen indirectly contributes to a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions—a reduction conservatively estimated at 20 million tonnes per annum. It is also estimated that RETScreen has helped spur the installation of at least 24 GW of installed clean energy capacity worldwide with a value of approximately $41 billion.